Newsletter #2 English version

We would like to use this newsletter to give you an update on the sustainable remodelling of the office building for the Goede Doelen Loterijen on the Prinses Irenestraat.

First official pile

On Tuesday 31 January at 11 AM sharp, we reached a true milestone. Two employees of the Nationale Postcode Loterij (NPL) carried out the official task of driving the very first pile. Afterwards, we toasted to the development of a beautiful and sustainable building! We did our best to keep the noise and nuisance during the piledriving activities to a minimum and we hope you were not unduly inconvenienced as a result.

Demolition completed

In the first newsletter, we reported that we began our demolition activities in October. By now, the building has been stripped on the inside and the façades and the roof finishing have been removed.

Our construction partner Beelen has worked hard to carry out this demolition process safely and in accordance with our agreements. For example, the demolition work above the new parking structure was done using large shears to carefully remove pieces of concrete. This demolition method resulted in less nuisance due to vibrations and noise.

During the demolition process, we sprayed water on the site to minimise the release of dust. We used rainwater for this, which we had collected in the basement. This method helped us save a lot of clean drinking water.

At the moment, Beelen is working hard on removing the concrete upper layer of the floors. Unfortunately, there is quite a bit of noise involved in this process. We expect to complete this task halfway through April. Until the summer break, we will continue to conduct demolition work every now and then. We will keep you informed via upcoming newsletters.

Crew wagon

Have you noticed that the crew wagon (our temporary office) has been placed on the Prinses Irenestraat? From here, our team will work with great enthusiasm to ensure this project is a success. This crew wagon also acts as a place to eat and change for our construction workers.

Taking the bike to the construction site

To prevent nuisance from employees’ personal vehicles around the construction site and in the residential area, we park in the RAI. To get to the construction site from there, we have been given a number of bicycles to use by the Goede Doelen Loterijen.

Lowest point

To realise the new parking structure in the basement, we have been pressing and driving steel sheet piles into the ground. These act as temporary walls for the basement. The excavation work for the underground parking structure is now complete and we have reached the structure’s lowest point at six metres below ground level. Excavation work on the future entrance on the Beethovenstraat is not yet complete.

Keep moving on the Irenestraat

In addition to our own project, the construction of the bicycle parking structure Vijfhoek is also in full swing. Freight traffic from both projects leads to more vehicles in the street. The road is narrow, which can cause obstructions. The municipal government has therefore taken measures to improve the flow of traffic. It is no longer allowed to park on the north side of the Irenestraat between the Vijfhoek and the Beethovenstraat. This week, the municipality placed signs to indicate this ban. This measure creates more room for vehicles to pass each other, which will allow everyone to keep moving. Parking is also prohibited along the southern part of the Beethovenstraat. This allows construction traffic to exit the construction site in a safer manner, because drivers can see the road more clearly now.

Upcoming activities

We have begun our work to make the soil suitable for the construction of the floor of the basement parking structure. To do so, we use a thin layer of concrete onto which we then pour the floor itself. We use the granulate produced during the demolition of the existing building in the new concrete. This fits in with our efforts to minimise the production of waste and to reuse materials whenever possible.

We will begin pouring the first concrete floors at the end of week 14 or the start of week 15. We will be using machinery to finish these floors, which will lead to noise pollution. We will do our best to minimise the hindrance. Circa week 16/17, we will be conducting a similar process.

At the end of May, we will begin the construction of the curtain wall on the south side of the building.

Tower crane

We need a tower crane for the construction of this building. We use this crane to hoist materials to the right location. The tower crane will be installed on the bottom basement floor. We expect to erect the crane in early May. This process will take circa two days. For safety reasons, it will unfortunately be necessary to close off the Prinses Irenestraat during that time. At the moment, we are working with the municipal government to draw up a plan for this process. Once we have more information to share, we will do so via another newsletter.

BREEAM

Inspired by our sustainability ambition and our BREEAM certification, we keep monthly records of our gas, water, electricity and diesel usage. If you would like to know more about our energy consumption, you can request copies of these records via goededoelenloterijen@jpvaneesteren.nl.

You can contact us

We will do our best to cause as little hindrance as possible during the construction process. We will keep you informed about upcoming activities via bimonthly newsletters and messages posted on our website (www.wijbouwen.nu/goededoelenloterijen).

Do you have any questions or remarks in the meantime? Please speak to Marco van der Veen, our managing contractor. He can be found at the construction site every day. Of course, you can also send us an email at goededoelenloterijen@jpvaneesteren.nl. We will get back to you within 24 hours. If it is urgent, you can call us night and day at 0900 - 824 34 73 (TBI Direct).